


Human Behaviour

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Northern Exposure
Genre: Gen, Homesickness, Road Trips, Yuletide, tropes and cliches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 09:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17077541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Joel accompanies Marilyn on her desert vacation.





	Human Behaviour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tjs_whatnot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjs_whatnot/gifts).



> Huge thanks to [Isis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis/pseuds/Isis) for the helpful beta. 
> 
> Happy Yuletide!

The dry heat was suffocating. Joel regretted his decision to save gas by not turning on the AC – he’d sweated so much he didn’t think any liquid was left in his body. And his shirt was saturated. Not in a million years would he admit he missed Alaska right now, but he didn’t _not_ miss Alaska right now.

Joel Fleischman had gone insane. He was pretty sure he’d gone insane years ago, when he’d first arrived in Cicely, but this confirmed that he had well and truly lost it.

It was one thing to fly to Seattle to find Marilyn and make sure she hadn’t been mugged or kidnapped. It was quite another to come with her for a few days in the desert. He recalled how he’d invited himself along when she’d told him about her vacation plans, his thinking that he too could use a break. Instead of being confused or insulted by his manners, she’d given him a small smile and one word: “Okay.” Then they’d gotten back to their jobs.

Was he an overly concerned employer or just stupid? When he’d told her the plan, O’Connell had given him the strangest look, implying the latter. But when he and Marilyn had boarded the plane in Anchorage he’d thought he was doing the right thing. Now, though, it was debatable.

“Stop the car,” Marilyn said from the passenger seat.

“Why?” He had to force himself to keep his eyes on the road. “What’s wrong?”

“Just pull over.” Cryptic as always.

Joel sighed, and pulled over to the side of the road. Incredulous, he watched as Marilyn got out of the car. “How can you be sick? This has got to be the straightest road in the country. Marilyn?”

She shut the door, then peered over the bottom of the window. “I’m going to walk.”

His jaw dropped even more. “You can’t be serious. This is a main road, it’s dangerous!”

“We haven’t seen another car for miles,” she said.

“Well okay, but what about snakes? If you disturb a rattlesnake…” There were bound to be rattlesnakes in this arid and barren landscape.

“You’re a doctor.”

Stunned, he could only blink. “What exactly is your plan, Marilyn? You want me to drive off and leave you behind?”

“Yes,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “See you at the motel.” She walked off.

“What motel?” he yelled after her.

But of course, she didn’t reply.

“Hey! Be careful!”

With no way of knowing whether she heard him, he started up the engine and drove on. For a long while, he stared at her reflection in the rear-view mirror, watching her short legs carry her along the dusty road. He shook his head to himself; her determination was a work of wonder. She would make it to the next town, he was sure of it.

Now that he was alone, he could listen to his choice of music. He flicked between radio stations – such a mundane experience, but one he didn’t get in Cicely – but didn’t find anything interesting. The music wasn’t varied enough, the DJs too boring. Did he actually miss Chris? Nah, course not. He put on a cassette he’d bought at the last gas station.

Three miles later, he reached civilisation. That was a generous name for a motel, a diner, and a single-pump gas station. But he’d have to wait for Marilyn here; she wouldn’t make it any further on foot in this heat.

As he checked into the tiny motel – which only had one room available, the girl at the desk claimed – he realised how ridiculous it all was. He was on vacation with his female employee. They were on a road trip through the desert. He’d stopped at a motel in the middle of nowhere.

He had to be in a movie. As he got in the shower to rinse off the sweat, he hoped it wasn’t _Psycho_ – he’d watched it with Ed last week and now had a justifiable fear of shower curtains. He shivered, telling himself it was the cold water.

Not long after he got out of the shower and changed into some fresh clothes, the clock radio beside the bed ticked over to 4:00, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since midday. He could’ve killed for a bagel right now.

He had to make do with a corned beef sandwich from the diner next door. The sandwich didn’t compare to even the cheapest corned beef in New York, but he couldn’t buy anything like it in Cicely at all, so it was a rare delicacy. He missed New York cuisine so much it hurt.

Double-checking the time on his watch, he decided against ordering a coffee as well, and picked up a newspaper instead. Occupied with food and some hard-hitting journalism, he lost track of the time. He only looked up when the chime of a bell signalled someone’s entrance to the diner. It was Marilyn. He didn’t bother hiding his relieved smile.

“You made it! Here, you must be hungry, what do you want?”

“A milkshake,” she said, sitting down opposite him.

“A milkshake.”

“Mm-hmm. Chocolate.”

To be fair, he _had_ offered. “One chocolate milkshake coming up,” he said, standing and going up to the counter.

When he returned, he gave her a wide smile. “So you didn’t get bitten by a snake or kidnapped by Indians.”

“I’m an Indian,” she pointed out.

“I mean, you’re okay.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t need me to come on this trip and keep an eye on you.”

“No.”

They sat in silence until Marilyn’s milkshake arrived. She slurped it up as if she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for days. Given the desert climate and her long walk, it didn’t surprise him.

Just as the silence was becoming unbearable, she broke it. “There’s an aurora,” she said, putting her empty milkshake cup aside.

“The northern lights?” He stared at her. “This far south? Are you sure?”

“Look.” She pointed outside.

Not believing her for a second, he got up and strode over to the door of the diner. He peered outside and sure enough, there were faint traces of green in the sky. He couldn’t help grinning.

“Is that why you wanted to walk?” he asked, returning to their table. “So you could see the start of the aurora?”

“No. It started when I arrived here. I could sense something coming.”

He rubbed his chin, frowning. Maybe she’d been able to hear it before it happened. Little surprised him these days, least of all anything Marilyn said.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” he said. “Have you got a camera?”

“No. It won’t get any more vivid here.”

“Oh.”

“You’re sad.”

“Joel Fleischman, disappointed? No way.” He shouldn’t have been, but now that an aurora had shown up, he couldn’t help wishing it were bigger.

Instead of pressing him, which wasn’t Marilyn’s style, she asked where they were sleeping that night.

“The cheapskates only gave me one room,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “And there’s only one bed.”

“It’s not appropriate for a man to share a room with his receptionist. You’ll have to sleep on the sofa.”

He didn’t argue. Instead, he chuckled to himself. She had a way of always getting what she wanted. It was something he admired in her.

They only had one more day before they returned to the cosy and familiar place they called home, where everyone was crazy and nobody cared, and where he didn’t need to jump inside a freezer to cool down. Damn it, he thought, he did miss Cicely.


End file.
